Holmes set to quit the track

Olympic heroine Kelly Holmes admitted last night that athletics may have to take a back-seat to new opportunities in 2005 as she cast doubt over her participation in the World Championships.

Her remarkable middle-distance double in Athens has opened new doors for Holmes, who has found herself in demand since returning with the triumphant British team.

Lucrative offers to capitalise on her fame have apparently opened Holmes' eyes to her market value, and there would be few begrudging her the chance to make the most of her new-found status as a household name, after a decade of admirable toil to get to the top.

Her age means that the end of the 34-year-old's career cannot be far off, despite the golds over 800metres and 1500m which arrived in Greece.

Holmes has only the sketchiest of track plans for next year.

Bowing out

Speaking last night in South Africa, where she is hosting the Norwich Union 'On Camp with Kelly' for Britain's elite junior runners, she admitted as much.

Asked whether she might compete in the annual European Cup series, she said: "Of course it would be good for the team, but whether I would be there, I don't know."

This year saw the British women relegated for the first time in the competition's history and top priority in mid-June will be their return from Division One to Super League status.

Holmes was then specifically asked whether she will run in August's World Championships, the event in which last year she claimed the 800m silver medal.

Again, however, she appeared unsure and non-committal of whether she would be in Helsinki.

"I'm still going to be running, but it can take second place to other things I do," she remarked.

"It's (athletics) always been first since I left the army - and the army used to be first.

"I hope to take part in the indoor season and that really will depend upon how much I train and my progression."

Her indoor pledge aside, it remains to be seen how much we see of Holmes on the track in 2005.

"I mean, I haven't thought about racing. I've just got my head around training," she said.

"Being here has actually got me motivated to start training, do bits and pieces and think, 'Oh yeah, I can still do it'.

"I think people realise that I'm happy with what I've achieved.

"The only pressure I put on myself is just to perform well when I go somewhere.

"I just hope people understand I achieved everything I wanted to achieve.

"I just happen to be an athlete still, because I know I can be.

"Really at the moment my focus is totally on this camp and past that, I haven't thought about anything."